Letter of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou to the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Natasha Pilidou

 

25 January 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Subject: The need to conduct lowest price tendering for RES

“AKEL considers that the plans of the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry for the installation of commercial systems for the production of electricity from photovoltaic panels, as well as other Renewable Energy Sources (RES) systems, can be considered anything but successful. We consider that with these plans there is immense speculation going on to the detriment of consumers.

AKEL has been calling on the government for years to proceed with lowest price tendering for RES projects. This was also among the key issues during the recent meeting of an AKEL delegation with you. The Ministry’s refusal to proceed with this proposal is inexplicable.

In 2012, when a lowest price tendering for renewable energy projects was held, prices of 7.4 to 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour were secured for energy from photovoltaic parks. Today the Cypriot consumer, based on the Ministry’s plan, pays 18 cents/kilowatt-hour to purchase energy from recently installed photovoltaic plants, i.e. the cost of oil and pollutants, instead of representing a price that corresponds to the actual cost together with a reasonable profit. Consumers in other European countries, where such tendering is held en masse, pay 1.5 cents for the same energy in Portugal, 3.5 cents in Greece and 5 cents in Germany.

In your statement you refer to the competitive market and that it is expected that it will bring about price reductions. AKEL’s assessment, taking into account the outrageously high electricity prices in the competitive markets of Europe, is that it will not lead to a reduction in prices in the coming years.

For that reason, we believe that together with the implementation of the competitive market, your Ministry has an obligation to announce a lowest price tendering for renewable energy and storage systems, without excluding the participation of the semi-governmental Cyprus Electricity Authority, with the aim that the benefit of the many millions that will result will be passed on directly to consumers and not to the pockets of a few investors as excess profit.

Furthermore, we note that for nine years now, a comprehensive Long Term Strategic Energy Plan with the EU Roadmap up to 2050 as the central axis, with 2030 and 2040 as intermediate targets, has never been submitted.

The plan should have covered all aspects of energy strategy in electricity, natural gas, transport, energy savings, meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and the impact on the economy and consumers.

We look forward to your positive response.”